Practicum #3

On MapleStory I have yet to meet any players other than seeing other users talking to each other. I have no desire to stand around one of the cities and talk to other players, and most of the time everyone is too busy fighting off monsters to converse with one another. Occasionally a user will ask a question about whether another member has a certain item they need, or need help finding something. Other than that the majority of conversations happen when the players aren't moving and are concentrated in large groups in the major cities where there are no monsters.

Most of the time I've been leveling my character up by fighting stronger monsters and completing quests. I finally decided to venture off the island I've been playing on- Victoria Island- and check out some other areas. I found it was rather difficult to figure out how to get off the island and onto another one. I made it to an icy area by riding on a whale driven by a penguin dangling a fish in front of the whale... and also traveled by ship to another area. Neither of those places had anything of use or interest to me, and so I returned to the main island. Those two smaller islands were really part of Victoria Island, but I wanted to visit some of the bigger places. There was no way in the game for me to find out how to get there. I even looked online for some help but wasn't able to figure it out.

Questions for tomorrow's presentation:

Do you think that the MMORPG aspect of these game is what draws players in, or are other elements more important (style, no cost, type of game)?

What is the appeal of purchasing items using real-world money in a free game?

What makes these games so addicting to the point where people refuse to leave their rooms and lose money due to playing them?